Order of the Stick

The Core Media Forum
21

OK, I’m officially done talking about Belkar. Sorry guys, he just pisses me off.

Let’s check out the rest of the group:

Roy- my favorite character: for being the “straight man” who always complains about the tomfoolery of the others, and for being a Lawful Good character done right (as opposed -intentionally- to Miko, the fanatical Paladin). I think his suicidal charge on Xykon was very, very stupid (all he had was a magic sword that did some damage to undead! Hello? Shouldn’t he have at least had some magical protection?) but I can live with it, because hey, nobody’s perfect. Plus it lead to the very interesting Life-in-Heaven plotline. Oh, and he’s BLACK, but nobody even notices. Good! I like my fantasies racially integrated! :slight_smile:

Elan- My second favorite; would be first if he’d gotten over his lunacy earlier. But still, he was funny, innocent and charming. I like him much better now that he’s a “Dashing Swordsman” (not a real D&D class, btw). His arc with the half-orc ninja girl was actually moving. I hope we don’t see his puppet god anymore, tho.

Haley- While she annoys me occasionally (her recent killing of her rival, the assassin Crystal, despite having made a truce with the Thieve’s Guild, was controversial) in general she’s smart, caring, slick, and sexy. Her crush on Elan is both logical and funny, because he’s so different from her. (wonder what his reaction to Crystal’s killing will be…)

Durkan- Not much of a character- he’s just your typical Dwarf priest (even the strip pointed this out) but that’s Ok, he’s still fun in his old-fashioned ways, and also plays sort of the straight man to the party as well.

Vaarsuvius- For a neutral-aligned mage, I find I like him well enough. He’s also sort of the “straight” man, a “Spock” type of character who tries to live by logic only, and oh yes, HE’S POWERFUL! Love to see all those wizard spells in D&D put to good use. I don’t care about the “is he male or female?” bit at all; I neither find it funny nor annoying, just tired. His/her current “damned to save his family” arc is pretty effective, even chilling. Bonus points to the author for finding a new spin on the Faustian Deal trope, as well.

Celia- is she an official party member yet? Though something tells me she might be killed off (permanently) eventually since “outsiders cannot be revived”. I hope not, I like her well enough. She’s, in fact, the only Sylph character I’ve seen in a Fantasy series so far. Sure, she’s a little out of touch with the realities of adventuring, but she’s shown as intelligent and sensitive. A good match for Roy.

More later.

22

Hoenstly, as someone who’s known Wil better than pretty much anyone else here, got to say that Wil can never like any character who takes refuge in audacity. Everyone’s got to have some redeeming factor for him. There’s no point convincing him otherwise.

Anyway, I enjoy OotS. I am interested in seeing how the current Varsuuvius arc ends. But what I really love right now is its sister comic, Erfworld. That one is interesting to me.

23

V, since we’re friends, I’m not going to assume you meant that in a “leave the poor old fool alone” kinda way, OK? But next time, phrase it a bit better.

Edit: Hmm, that may have sounded meaner than I intended. But damn, I’ve not had a good week. First was that guy at TV Tropes, and now this. I can get stressed too, you know. Can we move on? Please?

24

While also answering our question. Kind of. I still don’t fully understand why being annoyed by a character is enough reason to ignore his existence, despite the fact that he does play a role in the story (and, by the nature of stories) the point the author wishes to convey. Even if that point is “Hey, buddy, morality isn’t so easy!” or “Pie is delicious!”

25

Cavalcade: I’ll answer that- some other time. Right now, I’m just sick of talking about Belkar. I really want to talk about the parts I like, you know. Or especulate about what may happen next.

Personal prediction: Vaarsuvius is going to be defeated, for all his new demonic powers. Possibly because the Necromancer spirit he lost is going to be inside Xykon, or in that Necromancer chic that joined them. I mean, if Xykon is destroyed, the story’s basically over.

Unless the author wants Xykon to die, and let Redcloak take over. I’d like that…

Oh, and the Monster in the Dark switches sides. My bet is that it’s a Tarrasque (probably a baby one.)

Oh, and the Infernal Trio has special plans for Vaarsuvius after he’s done. What, I don’t know. Control of the gates maybe?

26

I only have one big problem with OotS: load times. Their server is horrible!

27

That’s fine Wilf, hell, it’s even okay if you don’t answer at all. it’s a really personal question, when you think about it, as this question extends beyond Belkar to your distaste for other characters/shows which I have found confusingly extreme. If you don’t answer, well, it’d make sense.

28

Wil, I think you’re the one who’s taking this personally. I certainly never got upset by anything that was said by either side… this is quite a civil discussion, especially considering how Internet discussions often go. 8p

Anyhoo, I’m not much for character analysis (at least not in a stick-figure webcomic) so I’ll pass on that part of the discussion.

29

Also, does anybody else picture Belkar having Toad’s voice from the original Mario Bros. cartoon?

Yeah, I’m probably the only one. It’s oddly fitting.

30

Cid, the conversation may have been civil, but, despite my best attempts, everyone -even you, right now- keeps going back to “What’s wrong with Wilfredo?” In that sense, it IS personal. Though admittedly I’m not in the best of moods today, I am disappointed.

One last time: ANYBODY interested in talking about Order of the Stick?

31

Meta-discussion is part of discussion. If two sides are presenting arguments to something, the arguments as well as causes and proponents of the arguments are going to be analyzed; it happens all the time. It’s not really reasonable to cry foul over that, and anything resembling the line “What’s wrong with Wilfredo” never crossed my mind. shrug

32

…I’ll take that as a “no”.

Maybe it’s for the better. As I said above, I haven’t had a good weekend, and coming back to this thread hasn’t helped.

For the record, I’m not mad against anybody here- just a little disappointed no one listened when I said “can we stop talking about me?”

Sometimes things just don’t work out .

I’m also going to continue reading OotS- because I LIKE it, I really do- and hopefully will comment on it some other time.

Thanks for trying anyway, people. Good day.

33

The only person who’s been talking about you is you, Wil, other than my very first post. We may have discussed your likes and dislikes (which is, in fact, what the thread was originally about). In addition, people in general don’t like being told that they’re not allowed to discuss something, when that thing is a perfectly valid offshoot of the topic at hand.

I’ve lived with several people whom I have to walk on eggshells around with a mental list of topics that “can’t be discussed” and it’s a terrible feeling. I’d assumed that wouldn’t be the case at RPGC.

34

Cid, I didn’t mean just you, and I don’t believe I can demand anything here- I asked people to please stop talking about my opinions because I’m too sensitive about it at the moment. Just plain good manners.

Anyway, I myself meant no offense to anybody. But this thread did not go the way I expected and it’s just given me stress in the past few days. So I’m done with it. I only came back to make sure I didn’t leave you with the wrong impression.

But now, this IS my final comment here. I’m not even going to look at the thread anymore. Make of that what you will. I need to move on. Hope you do the same.

G’night, folks. :wink:

35

Though it had a slow start, it’s intriguing. Plus, TRPG nerdery=> works for me.